The Wheels Keep Turning
by Merley
Summary: Grace and Tristan share a moment on the bus. Implied Gracevas, Triles


The warmth spread through the entire bus as the sun was out and happily aiming its vectors towards the windows, that they opened, with little relief. Tristan Milligan was currently on his iphone surfing his instagram, smiling through the countless photos he took of Miles and himself, and the hundreds of likes they attained on them. Tristan decided it would be the best time to take a selfie with a kissy face, adorned in his blue/yellow face paint, caption reading 'feeling under the weather without u ;(' He was just about to hit send when he heard a voice from above, startling him from his actions and looking up after quickly darkening his phone screen as a reflex.

"Hey class president" He blinked up at Grace who was smirking down at him, having caught his little stunt already, "Its been a while since we've heard your usual booming voice, Maya was starting to get a little concerned."

Tristan paused, stirring up from his seat to glance at the blond pop singer who was chatting up with some of the seniors, every so often glancing in a certain direction whom Tristan assumed was Zig by the bob of his hair; and from what he could tell, Zig was turning to her a lot too, "Hm, I doubt it" He shrugged off, falling back into his seat, his attention returning back to his phone, "Seems like she's a bit busy. Besides, I'm trying to save my own energy for the game." He opened his message inbox to see who he could bother; his eyes falling over Miles' name, or rather 'honeyingsworth' Their last conversation in the morning popping over in its entirety and making him smile as he reread them.

 **T:** Blue and yellow are so my color [attached file of him in the morning, snarling at the camera in blue and yellow facepaint] Xoxo you should do this with me

 **M** : wow

 **M** : super hot

 **M** : I think ill pass

 **T** : Wow fine

 **M** : [attached file of him at home, shirtless in his pjs, and snarling at the camera]

 **T** :

 **T** : Apology accepted

It has already been a week since they confessed their love for eachother, both verbally and physically. Tristan couldn't remember the last time he ever felt like this. He was in love and someone loved him too, something he believed existed only in plays. And now, everyday seemed like a grand one.

When he realized he still had a guest, he glanced up to look at her, "Need something Grace?"

Grace paused, looked at him, and after a few seconds rolled her head and plopped down beside him. Tristan shifted to the side to give her more room.

"It's about Zoe." She said after a while, causing his eyes to widen in surprise. He never thought Grace, of all people, would come to him for adv- "Have you seen her instagram pics?"

His eyebrows suddenly furrowed, knowing exactly what she was talking about. She looked quite unsure, before she shook her head to stand up, "You know what, forget it-"

Tristan's voice stopped her in her tracks, "You mean the ones of her burning herself?" Grace looked at him, speechless, before sitting down beside him again, "Yeah, I saw that."

She looked around to make sure no one was in a close radius to hear them, thankfully the seniors on the bus were all being loud idiots, "And what did you say to her?"

Tristan felt his phone vibrate with an instagram warning and looked back down at his phone, "Well I yelled, she yelled, big drama, which both an apology and hug fixed. Between us anyway."

"But not quite her self harming" Grace continued, outwardly, her voice growing louder a tad, "Did you tell her to get help? That there's people who can-"

"The last time I tried to warn her she blew up on me. I've told her what she needs to do, it's on her if she wants to listen or not."

Grace didn't seem too happy with that answer, quite the opposite, "Self harm is serious. She could get an infection, or worse. You should talk to her. She needs her friends." As Tristan failed to respond, she moved to grab his arm and shake him, both physically and emotionally enraged, "Hey, are you listening?"

"Woah, woah!" Tristan sprouted, jerking his arm back, and rubbing it as it suddenly felt quite sore. Apparently Grace had quite the grip, "Why do you care anyway, when you're the reason she's like this?"

Hook and sinker, he thought to himself, as he saw the expression on Grace's face change. Shock, Anger, opening her mouth to speak, but pausing mid and closing it shut, looking down at her lap, lips mum. Whatever she was thinking or feeling, Tristan had instantly regretted his words.

"Wait, hold on!" He called, as she stood up to walk away. She turned back to him with an expression of indifference, "It's – ok it's not you. At least not outright, rather what you are." Grace sat back down as Tristan's voice dropped once again, "She obviously likes girls and its taking her a while to admit that."

Grace bit her lip, slowly nodded.

"You know she really did like you" Tristan said, leaning back against his seat. Grace mimicked his actions, suddenly feeling exhausted.

"I liked her too, well at least I thought I did. Maybe not in that way." Her face scrunched up in consideration, as the memories pondered her, "I tried, but... it wasn't what I thought it'd be. The feelings, not-"

Tristan looked at her, "Well you literally got together like, in what? Two months? Maybe it was just rushed."

She paused and continued, "It wasn't the same when I liked Zig."

"Wait, WOAH, you liked-"

Grace blinked, surprised as she cut him off quickly, "Woah, she's a good secret keeper apparently."

"… Actually, not so true" Tristan responded, "Probably just for you"

Her lips twitched slightly, before a sigh escaped her throat, "That's harsh. Especially since I wasn't the best person to her."

"I think you should tell her that, not me. I mean, it does seem like you want to be her friend again. "

"I do but... it's complicated." Grace whispered, her eyes automatically moving to the seat where Zig and Tiny were, suddenly feeling quite awkward. If she could turn back time...

"I don't think you screwed up as bad as Zigmund, though" Tristan's voice startled her out of her thoughts as he elbowed her, cautiously. She turned to acknowledge him, "But honestly, I think the best thing you can do is face the facts. What's done is done. I think what I learned from my relationship is that not communicating your thoughts, both of you, will only end up in more drama and disaster and heartbreak. If you don't know what the other is thinking, how are you going to understand them?"

"I've already apologized and she doesn't want to hear it. Not that I blame her really." Grace's voice trailed off. She never talked to anyone about this, who could she really?

"I guess that's what happens in situations like this." Tristan mumbled, rubbing the back of his head, "But maybe you should... listen to her? Even if you know what she's going to say, if she spits angrily, even if she turns her back and walks away, it still says something. Allowing her to let off some steam really helps. You can't just leave things like this, especially if you want to work things out." He looked down, grumbling the last part, "And perhaps she'll able to get some closure and accept herself for who she truly is..."

Grace stared at him with narrowed eyes, contemplating his words. Before a large smile slapped across her face. Tristan thought it was the first time he saw her like this, he really only heard about the 'smile' from Zoe, "Wow, that was actually some pretty good advice."

Tristan scoffed, "I'm not the student council president for nothing!"

Their conversation was halted by a sudden squeal, they turned towards the front where Tiny suddenly jumped up from the front seat, confronting everyone on the bus with his hands in balled fists, arms outstretched, "Yo, Grace, guess who just got the girl of his dreams?"

Grace blinked, grinned, and stood up. Turning to say goodbye to Tristan who waved her away, before she went back to her friends. Tristan shook his head, looked down at his phone, and paused, contemplating telling Zoe about the encounter... No, this probably wasn't what she needed right now. Though he was finding it really hard to keep it to himself. Shaking his head, he went back to his homescreen, believing a picture was long overdue. "Hey guys, group picture!" He said scrambling to the aisle, everyone turned to regard him as he aimed his phone in their direction, large goofy smile on his face, accompanied by many more, "Everyone on one, say Panthers! Three, two-"

"LET'S GO PANTHERS!"

The impact was instantaneous and the photo became nothing but a blur.


End file.
